3rd Burger recently opened in the Ark Hills South Tower. I thought it was a new restaurant to Tokyo until I came across a second shop in the Aoyama/Omotesando area. The clientele in Aoyama is young and hip. Diners are given a buzzer after placing their order. Not exactly fast food, but the food does…
Tokyo Station Breakfast – Beef Stew
Nihon Shokudo, literally the Japanese Dining Hall, serves a beef stew made with a rich demi-glace for breakfast. The middle of the stew is a seasoned rice and the bread is a buttery croissant-like dough. A sumo wrestler would be happy to start his day with this meal. Located inside of Tokyo Station, the restaurant…
Beacon Brunch – closed
** Updated Dec 2016 – sadly Beacon has closed. A new shop, Crista, has opened in the same space, also by the same owner and chef. Brunch at Beacon is a taste of America in Tokyo. David Chiddo works his magic at this urban chophouse located between Shibuya and Omotesando. I picked Beacon for Sunday…
Best Steak in Tokyo – Dons de la Nature
The assignment came from my boss in London, to seek out and eat the best steak in Tokyo. Tough assignment from Chowzter, but Shinji and I were up to the challenge. We were surprised when we called Dons de la Nature and got in within a few days. Seems that this restaurant is not yet…
Viron Boulangerie
My go-to lunch when on a run is a sandwich from Viron. Excellent baguettes with a chewy crumb that can stand up to the crispy exterior. The sandwiches are classic French-style including pate de campagne, rillettes, and jambon. The large window display case in the front of the store has a dizzying array of sandwiches…
Depachika Fruit Sweets
The muskmelons that go for hundreds of dollars exists in Japan. If you go to a fancy restaurant, like Sukiyabashi Jiro, you may get it for dessert. I should say, if you are lucky and have a nice friend who treats you to dinner at Sukiyabashi Jiro. The muskmelon is amazing. Aromatic, juicy, and tender,…
Ginza Vomero – Italian Lunch in the Shadows of the Kabukiza
Just behind the mammoth Kabukiza theater in Ginza is an energetic Italian pizzeria and trattoria, Vomero. The welcome is warm and there is a lot of activity in the open kitchen, especially around the wood-burning pizza oven. The 1,580 JPY lunch course menu starts off with an appetizer plate of salad and some small bites…
Japanese Fast Food Breakfast
Most of my work is in the morning. If I can, I try to stop by a French boulangerie, like Gontran Cherrier in Shinjuku. My go-to coffee place near Tsukiji Market is Turret Coffee. Once in a while I find myself in a new neighborhood and finding a warm breakfast in Tokyo is surprisingly…
Otafuku Oden in Asakusa
Otafuku in Asakusa has been serving oden for almost 100 years. It’s a great little spot for fishcakes stewed in a delicate seafood broth as well as seafood and other izakaya fare. I came recently with my friend, the food writer and reporter, Steve Dolinsky. Steve is originally from Minnesota and now lives in Chicago…
Tenmatsu Tempura in Nihonbashi
Spring is my favorite time of year for tempura as sansai, mountain vegetables, are featured at good restaurants serving tempura. At the top of this box is udo (spikenard), which reminds me of a tender and somewhat bitter white asparagus. The other vegetable is renkon (lotus root). Tenmatsu at Nihonbashi bridge, just between Nihonbashi and Mitsukoshi-Mae stations on the…
Gotta Get – Hiroshima Lemosco
I am addicted to a product called Yuzusco, a yuzu and Tobasco like sauce that is great for pizza, pasta, eggs, you name it. Was thrilled when I cam across this Lemosco at the Hiroshima Antenna Shop in Ginza. It is very similar to the Yuzusco, but lighter in flavor. Sometimes the Yuzusco can be…
Gotta Get – Croissant Taiyaki
Taiyaki is a traditional Japanese sweet that is usually a pancake like dough that is stuffed with azuki bean paste and grilled in a fish (tai is the Japanese word for sea bream) shape. I am usually not a big fan unless they are hot off the grill as the dough gets very soft and…
On a Mission to Find Tokyo’s Best Banh Mi
I still find it hard to believe that I can get a better banh mi sandwich in Minneapolis than I can in Tokyo. I was on a mad hunt about eight years ago in Tokyo for banh mi and then gave up after making special trips throughout the city only to be disappointed. I moved…
Hirezake – Japan’s Weirdest Hot Saké Drink?
There is still a chill in the wind and one of the fun hot drinks to warm up with is hirezake. The fin of the fugu (blowfish or puffer fish) is grilled over a flame until charred and then put into a cup of hot saké to steep. More for fun than for flavor, but a nice…
Could This Be Tokyo’s Best Coffee? Chatei Hatou
One of the great pleasures of giving food tours in Tokyo is meeting passionate people who introduce me to spots in Tokyo. The metropolis is so big that it is impossible to make it to every shop that you want to go to. Sometimes it takes someone to put a shop back on your radar….
Butcher Brothers in Kanda and Nihonbashi
Butcher’s Steak Plate 肉屋のステーキプレート Craving a hearty lunch after an early morning tour to Tsukiji Market and depachika, I stopped by Butcher Brothers in Kanda. I had stopped by last week but came right during the lunch hour rush, noon in Japan, and there was a line out the door. So was thrilled when I…
Gotta Get – Tomizawa’s Deep-Fried Okra
We came across these deep-fried okra at Tomizawa. The okra are deep-fried until light and crispy. Not at all oily. Surely they must be better for you than potato chips, right? Well, that is what we tell ourselves. We are seeing lots of fried vegetables sold at the markets, but most of them are…
Gotta Get – Sansai Mountain Vegetables
Today at lunch I was reminded of what a special time of year this is. This gorgeous katakuchi bowl was presented with simmered octopus, fava beans, and fuki. Fuki is the stem of a bog rhubarb. It is no relation to the rhubarb I grew up with in Minnesota. It looks like a thin celery…
Ginza New Castle Curry
New Castle Curry in Ginza was a great little spot for a bowl of spicy curry topped with an over-easy egg. When I last went, while researching my book, Food Sake Tokyo, it was a second-generation shop in an old, wooden building in the glamorous Ginza district. While shiny new buildings were built up around…
Gotta Go – Utsuwa Kenshin
Asato Ikeda-san’s gorgeous pottery. I first came across these at Den in Jimbocho. Saké tastes better when served in something this beautiful. Bob Tobin and Hitoshi Ohashi of the Tobin Ohashi Gallery first introduced me to Kenshin Sato-san of Kenshin Utsuwa. When I asked chef Zaiyu Hasegawa-san of Den about these cups he too said…
Nakameguro Seirinkan – One of the Best Pizzas in Tokyo
Susumu Kakinuma makes some of Tokyo’s best pizzas in Nakameguro. Alan Richman, the decorated food journalist documents Kakinuma and his pizzas in this timeless GQ magazine article. It is worth the journey across the city to Nakameguro for one of his pies. There are two pizzas, the marinara and the Margherita. Here is Richman on Seirinkan….
Gotta Get – Taberu Togarashi Furikake
Furikake are toppings that are sprinkled over rice. Most of the times at home we are eating a bowl of white rice. But once in a while we’ll sprinkle on some furikake just to spice things up. This Taberu Tōgarashi is in the genre of the taberu rayū, which we also like to have from time to time. We try…
Takano Fruit Shop – Melon Juice
The hundred dollar muskmelon. Yes, it exists. Most of the cost of the melon, I have been told by a fruit store executive, is for the air-conditioning of the greenhouses in summer or for the heaters in winter. The muskmelon juice at Takano fruit café in Shinjuku Takashimaya is a nice alternative. The shop also…
Gotta Get – Nori Cups at Tsukiji Market
Once in a while you come across something that changes your food life forever. A Japanese chef girlfriend who now lives in California told me about these nori cups at Tsukiji Market. They are sold at a store that I walk by every time we do a Food Sake Tokyo tour, which is about 3-4…
Food Trends in Japan – Supermarket Trade Show
Fermented foods are an essential part of Japanese cuisine. Many staples of the Japanese pantry are made with fermented products including sake, soy sauce, mirin, miso, and vinegar. Kōji, Aspergillus oryzae, is the common ingredients in all of the products. The popularity of kōji is evident with the shio (salt) kōji and shōyu (soy sauce)…
Marutake Tamagoyaki at Tsukiji Market
Tamagoyaki, Japanese omelets, can be found throughout Tsukiji’s Jōgai, Outer Market. Within about a 50 feet meter there are three tamagoyaki shops. Recently some good friends of ours gave us a tamagoyaki from Marutake. Marutake has been in business for over 80 years. It is a very popular shop. The bespectacled son of the owner,…
Art on the Table by Asato Ikeda
It was the first time in my life that I held a cup in my hand and immediately fell in love with it. The light sky blue color, the rough and smooth texture that my fingers fell into, and the taste of the saké while holding something so beautiful. I couldn’t put it down. I…
Gyūkatsu Okada in Shinbashi 牛かつおか田
Gyū Katsu Okada is a restaurant that has been on my Go List for about a decade. It opened in 1998 and the signature dish is Australian wagyū that is breaded and deep-fried. It is a classic restaurant that has been mentioned in many food magazines over the years. The meat is cooked in 210…
camp Curry at Otemachi
camp (small letter c) has been on my Go List for a long time. The signature curry at camp serves up a day’s recommended portion of vegetables. Most of us could probably do better at eating vegetables, so to get my daily requirement in one delicious meal makes me happy. The curry is quite smoky….
Le Pain Quotidien at nonowa Higashi-Koganei
I lived in Brussels for a year and one of the things I remember the most is the Le Pain Quotidien down the street from my apartment. The bakery opened up early in the morning so I could stop by and get a croissant or pain au chocolat to start the day. The large communal…
Ramen-ya 69’N’ROLL ONE Akasaka – Rock’N’Roll One Ramen CLOSED
So sorry, but a kind reader of the blog has just informed me that this shop is now closed. I will update this post when I hear of news of a new shop opening in central Tokyo. Rock’N’Roll ramen is spelled out with numbers 69, or “roku” in Japanese. So, in Japanese we call…
Urban BBQ Smokehouse by TY Harbor
BBQ and sauces Chef David Chiddo of the TY Harbor group has several successful restaurants in the city including Cicada and Beacon. His most recent shop, Smokehouse, is an urban barbecue with a great list of craft beers, both domestic and from the USA, as well as one of the city’s best selection of American…
Focacceria Altamura
A gift from my cousin, some focaccia from a shop in her neighborhood. These are as focaccia should be, light, airy, with a crispy crust and moist crumb. Very simple flavors of rosemary, zucchini, and tomatoes. Tokyo is filled with great bakeries, and this is a good one to know about if you find yourself…
Tsurumaru Udon in Toranomon つるまる饂飩 虎ノ門店
A hot bowl of thick and chewy flour udon noodles hits the spot any time of day. Starting the day with fast food udon is something I could get used to. Good thing there is not one of these shops in my neighborhood. The standard bowl of noodles with hot broth is only 262 JPY….
Ginza Maru 銀座圓
In a recent New York Times Op-Ed, Gwen Robinson mentions a newly opened restaurant in Ginza that serves traditional Japanese lunches for only $10. She doesn’t mention the name of the restaurant in the article, but does talk about the chef, Keiji Mori, so with some research, in both English and Japanese, I found Ginza…
Narisawa
My friend, Jeffrey Merrihue, the founder of Chowzter, was in town recently to film a documentary on chef Yoshihiro Narisawa. Jeffrey followed chef Narisawa on a fishing expedition, a very cool imperial duck hunting adventure, and foraging in the woods. The end of his week of filming was a lunch at Narisawa and I was…
Gotta Get – Aonori
Tamagoyaki with Aonori I was at Tsukiji Market with a chef friend helping her track down aonori. She was on a mission. She didn’t want to leave Japan without some. There are several shops in the outer market of Tsukiji and we visited about five of them before we found exactly what she was looking for. Aonori is…
Turret Coffee at Tsukiji
Turret Coffee is a godsend for anyone visiting Tsukiji Market. Up until now I couldn’t find a coffee shop that had espresso. Surprising considering that most of Tsukiji’s business takes place in the early morning hours. Turret is the name of the vehicles the delivery boys drive at Tsukiji Market. Turret Coffee opened in October, 2013….
Sukiyabashi Jirō
Jeffrey Merrihue, Jirō Ono, Yukari Sakamoto My journey to Sukiyabashi Jirō started almost a year ago. Last February I was contacted by the Chowzter website to be the Tokyo Chowzter. I was happy to join this amazing team of chowzters and helped to suggest my favorite spots in Tokyo here. Chowzter will help you in…
2014 Tsukiji Market Record Tuna by Numbers
This year’s most expensive tuna sold at 7,360,000 JPY or roughly $70,325 US dollars. The tuna weighed about 230 kg. The price per kilogram was about 32,000 JPY or roughly $305 US dollars. The tuna came from Ohma in Aomori prefecture. The tuna was bought by the sushi chain, Sushi Zanmai. Sushi Zanmai has bought…
Osechi Ryori – New Year’s at Izakaya Sakamoto
As we were busy with Food Sake Tokyo tours through the end of the year we only had December 31st to prepare the osechi ryori, Japanese New Year’s cuisine. First thing on the morning of December 31st we went to our local depachika and picked up last minute ingredients. The department stores are always packed…
The Delicatessen at the Park Hyatt Tokyo
The set lunch at the Delicatessen at the Park Hyatt Tokyo is worth the short walk from Shinjuku station. I was surprised to see how reasonably priced it is. For 1,000 JPY diners can select from a large selection of sandwiches, including croque monsieur, croissants with ham, and pita overflowing with vegetables. With the sandwich…
2014 Tokyo Michelin Guide
Michelin has announced its updated guide for 2014 for Tokyo, Yokohama, and the Shonan area. Last year Michelin, in alliance with Gurunavi, has stopped printing the book and putting it online for free. So, here you go, the 2014 Tokyo Michelin Guide.
Tsukiji Market Calendar 2014
Food Sake Tokyo has had a busy year with food tours in Tokyo in 2013. We are already booking up dates in 2014. The most popular destinations in 2013 include Tsukiji Market, depachika, and Nihonbashi. The 2014 Tsukiji Market Calendar is now available online. As for it’s move. Newspapers are reporting 2015 for a move…
La Boutique de Joel Robuchon
J’adore Joel Robuchon. For special occasions we love L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Roppongi. The food is exquisite, service is professional yet friendly, and it has a great wine list. But, at the moment we don’t have the luxury of dining out for long meals. So La Boutique de Joel Robuchon offers a taste of…
November Seasonal Japanese Seafood
Salmon roe, pulled out of its sac and simply marinated in the sweet soy sauce of Kyushu, is irresistible this time of year. We love it so much it is on the table for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Crabs are also coming to market. Another highlight this time of year is fresh scallops and oysters,…
Tokyo’s Best Mamé Daifuku
Wagashi, traditional Japanese confectionaries, are often made with azuki, tiny red beans, and mochi, sticky rice pounded until its like a taffy. While I grew up eating some of these, I was never a big fan until I tried the mamé daifuku from Mizuho in Harajuku. The smooth azuki paste is not too sweet. But what makes…
World’s Greatest Wine Festival
My dear friend Yamada-san September 11, 2001 was a day that changed my life. I had worked as a cellar rat at Windows on the World. A friend of mine, who also started out with me working in the wine cellar, had just been promoted at WOW. We had a wine class together on September…
Gotta Gets – Okra Crisps
When it comes to crispy snacks in Japan, I tend to pick up Calbee potato chips. Calbee changes up its line-up frequently and it gives me a good excuse to buy something to snack on. When we saw these okra crisps at our local Tomizawa Shōten shop we were so curious. What would okra,…
Nihonbashi Tour on November 1st
Can you tell the difference between the nori on the left and the right? Two types of dashi, both using katsuobushi. What better time to learn about washoku? It seems that UNESCO will recognize the unique cuisine of Japan as an Intangible Cultural Heritage in December. If you are curious or passionate about Japanese cuisine…
Food Sake Tokyo 